Top 6 Digital Consumer Expectations Post COVID-19

6 Things that Digital Consumers Expect from Businesses post-COVID-19

Let’s face it, COVID-19 ain’t leaving us anytime soon!

And, there is no better time than now to harness the power of digital commerce. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers have understood and adopted the eCommerce offerings only to make a lasting habit of buying online. The trend that started off out of fear of being exposed to the contamination of the coronavirus is now making its gradual move towards an economy that is digital, secure, and convenient.

Smart consumers are now making a shift towards becoming digital consumers. Leaving the conventional buying habits behind, people are now in awe of online commerce and expect it to be as good, or rather better, in providing a digital shopping experience. Digital consumers are not only shopping online but also, prefer business communications to take place digitally. They are happily consumed by all things online, be it marketing, browsing, communicating, or shopping. As a brand, you need to keep the pace to match their steps! With this digital commerce wave, B2B, B2C, and brick and mortar stores are revisiting their strategies to stay ahead in the game. For retailers, eCommerce first strategy is the need of the hour to deal with this global economic slowdown and reach out to new and existing consumers who are searching for you online. That being said, let’s have a look at some of the statistics pertaining to eCommerce during this whole COVID-19 scenario.

COVID-19 Statistics Pertaining to eCommerce and Digital Consumer Behavior

covid19 customers mindset

As the pandemic has taken a toll on the world economy, people are increasingly turning to digital commerce, but at the same time, indulging in mindful shopping. Find below, an insightful country-wise bifurcation on how consumers are changing the shopping mindset since COVID-19.

Even with shopping becoming mindful, online shopping is witnessing a whopping uprise. Here’re a few surprising eCommerce stats showing the positive post-pandemic impact.

73-80% of the consumers have adopted and are intending to continue the new shopping habits including shopping online, trying a new retailer or brand, and more.
In Q2 of 2020, $1 of every $5 spent by the U.S. consumers came from online orders.
Online grocery sales for delivery and pickup increased 9% from May 2020 to June 2020.
The BOPUS initiatives like Click-and-collect and curbside pickups are expected to persist and experience a long-term trajectory of eCommerce growth post-pandemic.
Social media usage increased up to 51% during the pandemic making more room for social media ad spend and reach.
The average online transaction value has risen 74% compared with a year ago – EY.

These numbers are just a gist of how COVID-19 has accelerated online shopping and how the world is experiencing the rise of digital consumers. Let’s now move on to top trends that these consumers expect from the eCommerce industry.

1. BOPIS and Curbside Pickups

Amidst the pandemic, contactless delivery is upsurging with some really quick TAT (turnaround time). Just as we saw a staggering jump in grocery and medicinal property shopping, industry giants like Walmart and more are providing deliveries as fast as within 2 hours. But the trend of contactless, curbside pickup is not limited to just groceries. Consumers are now on the go and want things as fast as possible. Buy online and pick up in-store (BOPIS) and Curbside pickups are two crucial delivery channels that businesses need to empower. If you haven’t considered investing in such delivery channels, consumers may count you outdated to shop with you anymore. As safe, convenient, and fast as they sound, BOPIS and Curbside pickups are actually becoming popular for all the benefits it has. So, if you haven’t already, now is the time to streamline these delivery channels.

2. Omnichannel business strategy

We are aware of omnichannel marketing and its holistic approach towards customer targeting. But, businesses don’t only work on marketing! There are numerous other factors such as inventory management, supply chain management, delivery channels, and so on. With this pandemic hitting the economy, businesses are turning towards direct to consumer (D2C) channels. Contrary to the prevailing beliefs, direct models are actually complex as compared to the distribution intermediaries. And why we talk about the omnichannel business model is because now is the time when consumers prefer more channels they can engage on. Having an online store isn’t enough, and deploying an omnichannel strategy includes having an online presence at multiple shoppable marketplaces. Per se, people are buying from social media (Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and more), checking products out on Google shopping, following businesses via email newsletters and whatnot. Be it supply chain, inventory, opting for existing marketplace listing, opening up a web store and establishing a D2C channel of your own, or a combined approach, you need to churn out strategies that have the potential to serve your consumers better in terms of delivery, product/service quality, ease of order, and post-purchase support.

3. Personalization

Using personalization to better serve your customer base is not a new approach, this is what businesses have been doing for a long time. Personalization is emails, affiliate marketing, social media targeting, remarketing, and behavioral aspects are getting stronger with each day passing. The post-pandemic world will demand personalization that is intuitive and considerate! The transactional, demographic, behavioral, and interaction-based attributes now need a segmented approach to better understand and market. Digital consumers will only invest their time in things they are genuinely interested in, and to be at the forefront, brands need to brace up their personalization game.

4. The abundance of payment modes

As the economy takes a hit, brands need to understand that consumers are also struggling with financial stability and the ability to spend. As trivial as it may sound, eCommerce businesses need to give significant importance to the payment methods, modes, and facilities. EMI options, longer exchange periods, payment gateway choices, lenient tax and shipping policies, et Cetera are few of the changes that you can make to be helpful in these difficult times. The catch here is, even if you won’t adopt such methodologies, your competitors are already doing it. So, if you want to thrive amidst this chaos and beyond, start giving facilities where necessary.

5. Leverage O2O (Online-to-Offline) Model

As the new normal indicates WFH (work from home) and maintaining social distancing, the millennials and Gen Z are browsing the web like never before. Moreover, baby boomers too are exploring the reach of the internet via social media and eCommerce online marketing efforts. O2O, i.e. online-to-offline model is booming due to this surge in internet usage. Even if you’re just starting off with your online store or don’t have an optimized digital presence you can still utilize marketing channels to drive footfall in your physical store or take advantage of the order-placement mechanisms. There’s a remarkable rise in the digital consumer-base that will notice you online. Leverage the O2O model to expand your reach and serve your loyal customers with ease.

6. The Change in Narrative – Be empathetic and bring back normalcy

This technology-led batch of customers is trying to find the normalcy in this turbulence. As a socially responsible business, you need to try to make the transition as smooth as possible. Digital consumers will not only see how apt your products or services are to them but, they will also notice how well you market, how empathetic you are, and how well are you helping them with the scenario to stay safe. All these business narratives need to incline toward care, support, and warmth. Moving forward, brands need to keep in mind that it is not about revenue all the time, sometimes, you need to give more than you get.

Closing Note

The post-pandemic era is the era of digital consumers and if you want your business to perform well, it is high time that you pace up to their digital preferences. The above-mentioned six trends are the most common yet impactful ones. Now when you want to harness the power of digital commerce to entice digital consumers, be ready with a full-fledged eCommerce strategy to make the most of this era. We at Krish TechnoLabs are ready with a prowess team that can make this happen for you, get in touch!

Consumers Expectation Post COVID-19post covid 19 consumer behaviorpost covid-19 consumer

Minal Joshi is a content marketer at Krish with a flair for eCommerce and Digital Commerce aspects. She is a MarTech fanatic with a knack of writing with which, she helps brands to curate, create, & commence digital brand positioning. Sharing insights via articles, case studies, eBooks, Infographics, and other forms of content creation is what she lives for. Being an ardent traveler, when not writing, you'll find her sipping coffee into the mountains or petting a stray.

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